Daily Times

The maiden novel of Anita Mir titled The Inside City was formally launched in Lahore at the Research and Publication Centre with thought-provoking ideas and discussion of literary figures and intellectuals.

‘The Inside City’ is a story of walled city of Lahore with the incidents of pre-partition in the backdrop as the story starts right after the World War I in 1919 and ends in 1964. It was the most important time in the history of sub-continent and Lahore was the eyewitness of many political and religious movements. The Khilafat Movement, the massacre of Jalliawala Bagh and many other political developments took place at that time that culminated in the form of division of the sub-continent and the end of the British rule here.

“My endless love for ancient Lahore prompted me to write this novel as my mother used to live inside the Bhati Gate in walled city of Lahore and I have lot of memories from the area because we used to go there frequently,” said Anita Mir. She was of the view that the buildings, surroundings and architecture of Walled City of Lahore still fascinates her because it is the city where she was born before leaving for London and it is the same city where she also started her journalistic career. “I used history of sub-continent as a backup to write the novel and partition is the one aspect of this novel and it encompasses the period between 1919 to 1964,” said Mir, who now lives in London and teaches there.

The novel has many characters including Awais and his sister Maryam while their mother is completely indifferent about what is going on politically at a time when the India was moving towards partition. Awais discovered not a secret garden but a secret city and he was in love with the Walled City of Lahore but his sister Maryam was interested in Maths. Their mother took several decisions that changed their life when she came to know that the prediction of a Pir about his son went wrong. The author shared with the audience that earlier she had many characters for the novel but later she had to cut them off. “The most difficult part for me was writing the dialogues as I had to translate them from Punjabi and Urdu to English,” Mir said, while adding that she learnt the culture of ancient Lahore from their parents who grew up there. She further added that she completed the novel a long time ago but couldn’t find any publisher to publish it. “As I remained a journalist meeting the deadlines while writing 1000-words stories frequently and therefore I didn’t face any problem in writing the novel,” said Mir, who also writes fiction and plays.

Director of Research and Publication Centre (RPC) and Editor of the Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) Rashed Rahman said that this novel will be a welcoming addition in exploring the culture of Lahore. “The city of Lahore has very vibrant and ancient culture and it is rightly said that Lahore Lahore Ey,” Rahman said. He further added that the intellectual life of Pakistan is in danger because people’s ability to read books has been decreased due to many hindrances including the use of social media. Both our society and state are in crisis and we immediately need intellectual input to overcome the crisis, he said.

The event was jointly organised by the Taufiq Rafat Foundation and The Aleph Review – both are not-for-profit entities. Taufiq Rafat Foundation was founded in memory of the late poet Taufiq Rafat in 2006 to revive and encourage interest in Pakistani literature in English. The Aleph Review is an annual anthology of creative and artistic expression, taken out by Broken Leg Publications Lahore. Its mission is to find new talent and publish it alongside established names. The Aleph Review has received critical acclaim and includes authors from Pakistan and around the globe.

The author Anita Mir was born in Lahore and spent her childhood in County Durham and Wales, before moving back to Lahore. She has worked as a journalist, as well as in the development sector. Currently living in London, she is a playwright and an academic.